Without Hope
by Kimimari
Summary: Shaoran returns to Tomoeda after promising to come back, however when he returns he is no longer the same Shaoran that Sakura had been waiting for. He cannot remember his time in Tomoeda, and has a dark secret he's intent on keeping.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

He knew at his current state, he couldn't possibly win against the Sai Clan, not alone. He needed more magic, and hadn't his mother told him exactly where to go to get that? And if he ever wanted to see her, his mother, again, his only hope left was that the strange power of which his mother spoke would be able to accomplish what he himself, could not, to turn back time, so he could save her and the rest.

That was why 13 year old Shaoran had come back to Tomoeda. To obtain the power his mother had told him about years ago. Why hadn't he gotten the cards when she had told him about them? He remembered coming to Tomoeda once before. His memory had been sketchy about the events around that time. He tried hard to remember what had prevented him from finding the illustrious Clow cards when his mother told him about them 3 years ago. Had it been because of the clan's attack? Was he not willing to leave his family? Was that the reason he hadn't completed the task his mother assigned to him? He couldn't remember at all. All he knew was he regretted the decision not to get them when he had the chance. Now he would go there, to the place he was told so few years ago. He didn't have long, the Sai Clan was getting more powerful by the minute, their ambitions coming closer into reach than anything else. Now that he was back….now he would do what he couldn't before, the last time he was in Tomoeda. However just because one forgets the past, does not mean it didn't happen. _She_ would still be there always until the day he returned, waiting for him.

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Chapter 1: The Return

Shaoran rested his head on his knees in front of himself. His headaches had become worse lately, leaving him unable to concentrate properly. It wouldn't be long before his plane landed, and he would be closer yet to his destination. "We will now begin our descent Estimated time of arrival…." the rest was lost to Shaoran who drifted off to sleep.

"Excuse me" Shaoran felt someone pushing his arm and slowly opened his eye. The flight attendant smiled at him. "We're here now. Everyone's already gotten off"

"Oh! Sorry" he said turning a bit red and quickly gathering his things. Shaoran had less trouble than he thought he would understanding what everyone was saying. He thought simply learning Japanese wouldn't be as easy to put into practice when he finally got to Japan, but it seemingly came like second nature to him.

He let out a sigh of relief when he finally reached the address of the house in Tomodea that he had stayed in. He'd found the address before he left from some letters his mother had apparently sent him while he was there. Reading them confused him. The contents didn't seem to make sense. So seemingly implied that he had cards of his own, but he was sure that was never the case. He looked upon the house. There was something nostalgic about but he could only remember a few things about living there. He brought his belongings in and laid down on the closest couch. Exhausted from the days trip, he fell into an uneasy sleep.

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Shaoran was running, running as fast as his legs would carry though the darkness, but it seemed his pursuer would catch him any moment, no matter where he ran he couldn't escape it. He turned his head hoping to see how far away it was, but all he could see was the ongoing darkness.

"Didn't I tell you before, when you fall asleep, we can find you?" A menacing voice asked seemingly out of nowhere.

Shaoran kept running trying to ignore the voice.

"It matters not where you run, or how hard you try, it's just a matter of time"

Shaoran's foot steps echoed through the silent darkness, until suddenly he felt his feet unable to move. He looked down at them to see them being engulfed by the darkness that surrounded him. He fought desperately to free himself.

The voice laughed seeing him struggle against it. "Why fight it? After all, your already ours. "

The darkness continued to eclipse his body, until he was unable to see, unable to breathe.

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Shaoran sat bolt upright, almost falling off the couch he'd been sleeping on. His shirt stuck to him coated in a layer of sweat. He put his hand to his forehead, the strong headache from before gradually receding. He shakily stood up and looked out the window. He'd have to find the cards and fast. Before they found him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Shoaran remained exhausted from the trip and wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, But first he had to take some precautions. He knew he couldn't go back to sleep with them there waiting. He went to his room. It looked exactly how he'd left it, perfectly organized, not a thing out of place, although, this confused him a bit. He tied to remember his time of leaving. As far as he knew, he hadn't expected to come back to Tomoeda for a while. So why would he have left some of his things there. This type of thinking didn't last long, however, when he realized it was lucky that he did leave some of his belongings there. Among them was a shelf full of magic books his mother had given him over the years. He began pulling them off the shelves and browsing through them, not sure entirely what he was looking for, until he found it; a spell for protection. He knew it wasn't the most reliable thing, but unless he decided to stay awake forever, he needed to try something. He followed the directions in the book perfectly, hoping that it would work. He laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Somehow, he felt he was home, while another part of him longed to be back in Hong Kong. He pressed his eyes closed at the thought trying to do anything but think about Hong Kong. "Why fight it?" a voice echoed in his head, out of memory.

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Shaoran woke up the next morning in low spirits. Although his night was free of visitors, he'd barely slept. He gave up trying to go back to sleep around seven. The house seemed unnaturally quiet as Shaoran changed. He decided to skip breakfast at present, there was only one thing on his mind. He had to find the cards, and quickly. He grabbed his retina and headed outside. Chanting softly he held the board in front of him. He waited expectantly after he finished, for the board was supposed to show him the direction to the illustrious Clow Cards. However, he was surprised to see that nothing happened. He stared at the board for a second before repeating his chant focused making sure that he hadn't spoken incorrectly. The second time when nothing happened, he grew anxious. Does this mean that the cards are no longer in Tomoeda? He thought to himself. But if that's true, how am I supposed to find them? He though a bit more discouraged. He shook his head as if trying to shake the thought out of his head. No I will find them. I have to. Maybe I'm just not close enough to their location. If I walk around for a bit, maybe I can get it to work, he thought a bit more optimistically.

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"Onii-chan!" Jera complained as she poked her brother from his side. He seemed deeply concentrated, and as such, was not paying much attention to the seven year old at his side.

"O-NI-CHAN!" she said louder and with more of a temper.

That seemed to wake him from his trance. He spun his desk chair to face her "What is it? Is something wrong?" he said looking down at her.

"No….I just wanted to know what you were doing?" she said innocently.

"Trying to find someone" he answered simply.

"Did you find him?" a deep voice asked from the doorway.

Teru turned his desk chair to the man .

"Somewhat, it seems he has figured out that we're still after him. I wonder why" he said sarcastically. "He's tried some protection spells, but his range of effectiveness is still quite small. I could give you a rough idea of where he is."

The man nodded. "This is turning out a bit more interesting than I planned"

"How so?" Teru asked.

"Have you seen the news lately?"

Teru shook his head. Of course he hadn't. He'd been here the entire time trying to find the kid.

The man walked over to Teru and grabbed the television remote off of his desk, and flipped on the TV, to a local news station.

"Just a few days ago, the Li Clan, a prestigious and well known family were found in their house dead. Included in this tragedy were 35 year old Yelan Li and her four daughters. Police say that this was most definitely a homicide. Although the details cannot be released as of yet, the weapon seemed to be a type of blade, possibly that of a knife or sword of some kind. Coincidentally, Li Shaoran, 13, is still reported missing. Neighbors report having seen the child enter the house, apparently acting strangely. He appeared not to hear neighbors as they greeted or called to him. He entered with a sword in hand, although most had expected this to be a toy or prop of some kind at the time. Witnesses say they saw the child leave about an hour later, running form the house with a backpack in hand. The child hasn't been seen since. Li Shaoran" a picture of him flashed across the screen., 'is waned for questioning. If seen please call-" the reporter went on to give more information.

Teru raised his eyebrow. "Yes and?"

"Well I never thought he'd last long enough to be suspected, but this may work to our favor."

"What? Are you thinking of just letting the police handle him?" Teru asked.

"No, but we could have some fun before this game is finished." He replied simply.

:"Game huh? Well, personally I don't think you should treat it as such. After all, if you knew where he was you might be a little more worried."

"Really and where might that be?"

"In the town of the girl that the magical community is gossiping about. That new little girl magician, the inheritor of Clow Reed's magic?"

"The Card Mistress"

Teru nodded solemnly. "He probably went there for her help. Rumor is that she'd not just a helpless 13 year old, and if Reed selected her to inherit his creations, I doubt she's either magically or mentally weak. You might have trouble with her."

"Don't worry so much. He hasn't gone there to ask for her help. It's impossible. My spells still in effect, I can tell. He wont go running to her."

"How can you be so sure? You overestimate your abilities I think" Teru countered.

Shen glared at him. "And you underestimate them, but I guarantee you that he didn't come for the purpose of finding her, although if he happened to, that could cause some trouble.

"Then I suggest you stop talking to me and go do something about it" Teru said a bit annoyed at Shen didn't seem to take his warning seriously. He looked at his watch seeing it was almost noon. "You can go now, It's a place called Tomoeda."

"Alright, Alright. Damn kid, if he hadn't gone there we could have had fun with this"

"Just curios, what will you do if you come across the card mistress?"

"Easy, I'll convince her to join our side, or stay out of the way."

"Do you really think she'll listen if you attack her friend?"

"I don't plan on letting them meet, but even so, they're kids right? They're just friends. It's easy to turn them on each other, especially with this" he said pointing to the TV. "Do you think the little one will side with a murderer?"

Teru remained silent as Shen left, joined by his companion, a young female ninja dressed all in red. The man had a point.

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It was just after school had let out for the other children when Shaoran finished walking around the small town of Tomoeda. He'd finished his search in a small park, with a giant slide in the shape of a penguin. He found himself sitting on a swing with the rashinban sitting on his lap.

I don't understand. Where could they have moved to? Where do I even start to look? How do I even start to look? He thought once again feeling his small bit of hope draining out of him. He was so wrapped in his own thoughts that he wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings. He didn't notice the fact that even thought school had just let out, save for himself no one else was at the playground.

However, something seemed to shock him out of his mental stupor. He felt the strong threatening presence quickly approaching. He jerked his head up, with his eyes wide and searching, his face seemed frozen in shock.

"Playing around? Do you really have time for the Li Shaoran?" a sinister voice came from behind him.

A/N... so i was just rereading what I had Posted...and have realized a lotof stupid grammar mistakes...and stupid mistakes in general...like not changing Yelan's age...I had her at like 80,000 or something, butg im working to fix those and post a new chapter soon! 1/26/08


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: First of all, sorry for the long time to update. I broke my computer...no really...apparently some wires are not supposed to come unplugged. Who knew? Second of all, I went back and read what I'd written so far and realized how many grammar mistakes etc I had made, so I'm going to go back and try to fix them. Third, sorry for the really short chapter! I'll make my next one longer, promise! Thanks to those who reviewed! (I like all reviews even those who tell me I'm horrible...as long as they tell me why!)

Chapter 3

Shaoran attempted to face the man, however his body felt stiff. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move an inch. A thought crossed his mind, that this what what it meant to be scared stiff, but quickly threw that idea out, guessing that it was the other sorcerer's doing. After all, he wasn't the type to be scared so easily.

"Seems your protection only works if we're far away, huh?" he said coming into Shaoran's view.

The man was much older than Shaoran, in his early twenties, and at least a foot taller. His shoulder length, straggly hair gave him a wild look, that fit his personality well.

"You know, running away like that gave up a bit of trouble." Shen said looking down at the frozen 13 year old who looked like his mind was preoccupied.

Shaoran wasn't listening to Shen. He was desperately trying to break free of the hold the man had on him. All spells had breaking points. Shaoran just had to find this one.

Shen glared at the boy and walked over to him, and grabbed him by the collar, pulling Shaoran's face right in front of his own, so the boy had no choice but to look at him. "You know, you should listen to your elders, not ignore them. Didn't you mother teach you anything? Oh, well maybe she didn't get a chance." he said the last part with a smirk, hoping to attract the boys attention.

It certainly achieved its goal. Shaoran completely forgot about breaking the spell and looked up to Shen, with rapt attention. "It doesn't matter anyway, I guess, since you'll be joining her soon. Well maybe not. After what you've done, you may not make it to the same place she went. What do you think?" Shen asked taking any chance to antogonize the young boy before achieving his task.

Shaoran directed his eyes away from the man. He couldn't give him a response.

"Well, I thought this would be a bit more interesting, you being the last one and all. I'd think you'd at least have the will to fight"

Shaoran's eyes darted up to Shen. He hadn't realized he'd stopped fighting the spell and tried to regain his concentration.

"Too late" Shen said grabbing one of Shaoran's wrists. Wind encircled the man and pushed him slowly into the air. Shaoran felt his body being pulled up by his wrist. It felt as if all of his weight lay on his shoulder, as if it would be pulled out of it's socket from the stress.

Once they were about 100 feet high, Shen smirked down at the child, "Well it was fun while it lasted, I suppose" he said before letting go of the boy, however a split second after, Shen felt a strong tug downward. Shaoran had grabbed his leg before he could plunge toward the ground.

"Hmmm, so you're able to move a bit. Well like I said it's still too late" The two were still floating in the air from the other sorcerer's magic. He enclosed his hand over the younger boy's, sending a stronger binding spell onto Shaoran who could only continue looking at Shen. After he was sure Shaoran was once again unable to move he pulled the boy's hand free from his leg. "And here ends the line of the Li Clan" he said before once again releasing Shaoran, making sure not to give him the chance to save himself again.

Shaoran tried to move to do anything to save himself from the fall, however Shen's spell was stronger than it had been for, and the quickly approaching ground was a huge distraction to his concentration.

"Shaoran-kun!" Shaoran's heart skipped a beat. Had he really heard that? Someone call his name? He had to have imangined it. After all heard the name Shaoran. No one save for his family called him by his first name. Did that mean that possibly....

These thoughts race through his head, but it wouldn't matter, any second he would hit the ground. He closed his eyes bracing for the impact. He felt his body make contact with something, however it wasn't the hard ground he ws expecting. It was rather soft, and slowed his descent instead, of completely making him slam against it. He opened his eys and was suprised at what he saw. For a moment, he thought that he really had died. After all, what else would explain the appearence of the white angel that had caught him?


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Couple of things. (1) Sorry about the not updating thing. My hard drive's still not fixed….even though I have everything to fix it with now, I haven't seen my friend who's going to fix it so I had to rewrite this. (2) I've noticed I HATE my writing style…and am sorry it's not better. I've been trying to improve it without much luck. That's another reason it's been taking me a long time to update this. I'm never going to be happy with my chapters. Oh well. (3) Well…I didn't actually have a 3.…but I felt weird having a one and two without a three.**

**I do not own CCS. If I did….it would be all about Yuki and Touya. (Because I love them...though I doubt they'll actually make a real scene in this fan fic). Anyway for the next chapter….**

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Chapter 4

Shaoran stared up at the angel, his mouth slightly ajar. Out of all the things he could think would stop his fall, he never imagined such a creature would appear. The angel stared back, with his violet piercing eyes showing no emotion. The angel set Shaoran on the ground without speaking a word to him. Before he could think of what to say to his savior, he heard someone call out to him again.

"Shaoran-kun!" he turned around to see a girl about his age running towards him. His brow creased as he stared awkwardly at her and took a couple steps back as she approached.

This didn't go unnoticed by Sakura. She stopped in her tracks, surprised by Shaoran's behavior. She hadn't seen him for all this time, so why? Why was he giving her that look like she was a threat. "Sh-shaoran-kun, are....are you ok?" she asked tentatively. The look he was giving her was making her uncomfortable.

Shaoran looked at her doubtfully. Did he know her? He couldn't remember meeting such a person. "I'm fine" he said and looked back up to where Shen had been. He was still there floating in the sky looking thoughtful.

'I'm so glad that you're back" Sakura said beaming, giving him the cheerful smile she always had. "I got worried when you stopped writing and...." she trailed off noticing that he wasn't listening to her. He was too busy glaring up at the man in the air. She was just as surprised to see the Yue was doing the same.

Shen lowered himself to the ground. "Well hello there!" he said with a friendly wave to Sakura.

Sakura turned to face the man that almost caused the demise of the one she loved, although she wasn't as skilled at showing her anger as the other two. She moved herself between Shaoran and the other who remained where he was.

"You, why are you attacking Shaoran-kun?" She demanded, he staff still clutched in her hand.

""Don't be so angry little one" he said in a light voice. His tone suprised Sakura, she'd expected him to be aggressive, possibly to try to hurt Shaoran again. After all, it was this man she'd seen in her dream attacking Shaoran. "I'm simply doing my job. I work with the Magic Association of Hong Kong, you see. We help to keep magic concelaed from the non-magic population."

"So? Why does that mean you have to attack Shaoran-kun?" Sakura asked.

"Because the young one over there exposed magic, and broke the law in the most unforgivable act" He responded, a sly grin appearing on his face.

Shaoran paled at the statement. Even though he knew Shen's story was a fake up until now, the last statement was the truth, a truth he regretted, and couldn't bear for other people to know. He locked eyes with Shen who was apparently enjoying this immensely, however as soon as he did so, he realized his mistake. He felt his consciousness start to slip away, but couldn't tear his eyes away from the man. He couldn't move, his arms felt like lead, and his thoughts began to grow hazy until he could not longer comprehend what was going on around him, though neither of the others seemed to notice the change in him.

"The most unforgivable act?" Sakura looked confused. Yue however understood perfectly what that meant, but even he knew Shaoran would never stoop to such acts.

"He attacked others, and needs to be stopped" Shen answered simply.

Meanwhile behind Sakura, Shaoran seemed to have found the lace that changed into his sword on command. Gripping it in both hands tightly, he moved forward towards the duo.

"Shaoran-kun would NEVER do something like that!" Sakura defended with full confidence in her words.

"I wouldn't be too sure" he responded jerking his head towards Shaoran who'd just liftd the sword over his head in preparation for his attack on the unsuspecting girl.

Sakura let out a startled yell as she stumbled backwards realizing Shaoran was behind her. The seemingly emotionless sorcerer brought the sword down towards her. It came within inches of her face but was halted before it made contact. Sakura who'd closed her eyes opened them to find Yue restraining Shaoran.

"Sh-sharaon-kun?" she stuttered staring wide-eyed at him..

He didn't answer her, rather he fought against the angel who had minutes before saved him. Yue's hands closed tighter around the younger boys wrists, forcing his right hand carrying his sword behind his back.

"Shaoran-kun, what's wrong?"

"There's a strange power surrounding him…controlling him" Yue answered showing slight strain at the effort of keeping Shaoran in place. "If you concentrate you can find the source….though I believe that's unnecessary" his eyes drifted to Shen floating above them.

"Perceptive are we?" Shen commented. "And to think, I was trying to make this easy on you. Just leave the boy with me, and you can go along and pretend this never happened. Otherwise, I won't be held responsible for what befalls you"

"Fly!" she pulled out the card in an instant and joined Shen in the air. "Leave Shaoran-kun alone, I really don't want to fight, but I won't just let you hurt him"

"As you wish" he pulled out multiple slips of paper much like the ones Shaoran had used during the search for the Clow cards. He held out two in front of him.

"Raitei!" he called. A single bolt of lightning shot down from the sky towards Sakura, who just barely flew out of the way in time, gracefully landing on the ground. A second shot towards Yue and Shaoran. Yue dragged Shaoran away with difficulty. The young Li heir was still struggling to free himself from Yue, and he seemd to be getting stronger by the minute.

"Windy! Bind him!" Sakura called sending out yet another card.

Shen however didn't look worried. He pulled out another paper with slightly different writing on it than the first two. "I came prepared to fight you, dispell!" He threw paper at the windy, and upon contact, she completely vanished, returning back to the card. "Keep 'em coming"

At that moment, Shaoran broke free of Yue and sprinted towards Sakura.

"Shield!" she called summoning another cards.

Shaoran pounded on the shield trying to break through, while Shen floated amused. Yue appeared behind him yet again, this time forcing Shaoran face first to the ground pulling both Shaoran's arms behind him and using his own body weight to keep Shaoran pinned.

Another dispel was sent to Sakura's shield, causing it to return to it's card from.

Shaoran tried to focus on his surroundings. He saw what was going on around him, but it was more like a dream or looking through someone elses eyes. He couldn't feel Yue's hands restraining him, or the sword clutched in his hands, and every time he tried to will his body to do something, his became even more exhausted. He knew if he continued trying, he would lose consciousness altogether.

Yue's eyes darted from Sakura to Shen back to Shaoran. Sakura needed help to overcome the current obstacle, and Yue could do nothing while he still had to restain Shaoran. "Sakura, there's another way to break the spell over him, though you won't like it" he said right before she jumped away to avoid another spell of lightning.

"If you can free Shaoran from his control, do whatever you need to!" she called back as she took flight again, with firey in her hand.

Yue nodded and looked down at Shaoran still fighting to get away with little avail. His right hand tightened on the boy's wrist that still carried his sword with a bruising force. Yue looked to Sakura, knowing she'd be displeased later, however, she was distracted at the moment.

She darted around the air, anticipating Shen's attacks, preparing to send one of her own, when she heard a blood curdling scream. She whipped her head around looking back at Shaoran. Yue held him up by his right arm, and the sword he carried clattered to the ground.

Shaoran felt the shock of pain run through his arm like electricity, banishing the fuzziness that had taken over his consciousness before. Where there was a cludy haze and numbness before, there now was the throbbing pain of his arm, and the realization he could now move his body. His senses were his own, and though he was in pain, he was at least glad to have his body back.

Yue abandoned Shaoran now that he knew the boy was back in control, and took to the sky to aid Sakura. The sky became streaked with lightening as the three fought in the air. The younger boy fought to stand up, the exhaustion his body felt from fighting Shen's spell hadn't left with the haze. Shaoran pulled out his own paper spells to help, but the three were weaving in and out of each other that he was having problems aiming, that combined with his vision intermittently blurring.

He bent down grabbing his fallen sword with his left hand and ran towards the battle. Shen noticing the movement, narrowed his eyes toward hs target, sending a final bolt of lightning streaking towards Shaoran.

Shaoran froze. He hadn't the energy nor time to dodge the attack that was thrown at him. Sakura spun in midair realizing her mistake, and sped towards him, knowing only too well that she wouldn't make it.

Shaoran's eyes widened in shock as the bolt came within feet of him. A flash of red caught his eye, And then there was nothing. The lightnigh he'd been expecting never came. In it's place stood a girl, as far as he could tell clad entirely in red.

Teru's eyes showed the same shock that was reflected in the other three. "W-what

What are you doing?!" he shouted to her.

"Master Teru sent me news to abandon the attempt for now" she replied "He wants you to return immediately"

Shaoran looked up at her. She was merely inches away and all he could see was he back, but something seemed oddly familiar about her. He couldn't quite grasp it, but she seemed intent on not turning around.

Shen looked infuriated, but vanished within seconds.

The ninja's eyes followed him. She made to leave when she felt a pull on her arm. She turned around to face Shaoran. He looked at her quizzically trying to figure out who she was, but her face was still hidden by her mask. "Why did you save me?" he asked, his voice sounding irritated.

She shook her head and in a puff of smoke, she was gone. Shaoran looked at the empty spot where she had just been confused. She disappeared out of his grasp without him even feeling her leave. He stepped forward to the space she'd occupied and felt something hit his foot. On the ground, where she stood was an old book, resembling those he'd once found in his mothers library, the ones with old magic in them.

"Shaoran-kun…." Sakura asked tentatively.

He looked at her, his face hardening as he realized who she was. The holder of the clow cards. He grabbed set down the sword for a moment and used his left hand to set the book in his right, then picked the sword back up. He pointed it towards her in warning. "You have the Clow cards" he said more to himself than her. "Hand them over or else!"

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**Hmmm maybe not the best place to end, but let me know what you think….even if it's just to yell at me, I'm fine with that ^^**

**Oh and I know there was a specific term for the paper spells that Shaoran uses, but I can't remember or find it so if anyone knows, feel free to tell me. I'll give you a cookie!**


	5. Chapter 5

AN: So I've been writing this during my BB H class...I really shouldn't do that. Oh well. This is actually a quick update from me for once! Just so you know, this is a dialogue- heavy chapter, sorry. As always reviews are appreciated, bad or good, I don't really care. Anyway, on to the chapter.

Chapter 5

Shaoran's eyes locked with Sakura's, repeating his ultimatum, "Hand them over!"

"Shaoran-kun…" she started but Shaoran never heard the rest. As hard as he tried, he couldn't fight his exhaustion any further. The ground rushed up to meet him, or was it the other way around? He thought. His body never felt the inevitable impact, but he was too tied to realize this. His vision was consumed by darkness as he entered a peaceful sleep…for now.

A dull pain in hi arm woke him from his first dreamless sleep in months. His eyes slowly opened. It took a few minutes for his vision to clear, still feeling groggy from his sleep. He could hear voices, but had to strain to make out what they were saying.

"--- think he'll be ok? I wonder why he was being attacked." A soft girlish voice asked. Putting the pieces together Shaoran remembered it belonging to the auburn haired girl from before, the girl who held the cards he needed.

"Well he IS a brat. He probably just annoyed the wrong person" this voice was unknown to Shaoran. It had a strange accent that Shaoran couldn't quite place.

"No, the one chasing Shaoran already said why he was chasing Shaoran. He mentioned some things, which he was probably lying about but Shaoran reacted to only that statement…not contradicting its meaning." This voice sounded much softer and calmer.

"Which was?" the girl piped up curiosity evident in her voice.

"The most serious crime against magic" the calm voice replied.

"…even the brat wouldn't do that" Again, the voice with the strange accent. Shaoran immediately didn't like this person. He figured out the three were talking about him, and whoever it was, kept calling him a brat without even knowing him.

"Wait! What is it? The worst crime?" the girl asked again.

"Taking another person's life" the calm voice said.

Immediately following Shaoran heard the sound of a chair being knocked over accompanied by a 'no!'. "Shaoran-kun would NEVER do that! He's a good person and that can't be true!"

"Calm down Sakura!" Some more talking happened, but Shaoran heard all he needed to for now.

Shaoran sat up on the bed, his arb throbbing painfully at his side. He scanned the room assuming that it belonged to the girl seeing as how the room was littered with stuffed animals and other girly things. What caught his attention was a teddy bear sitting on the girl's desk with a few letters leaning up against it. The stuffed animal reminded on a similar one he had at home.

He shook the thought away. He couldn't be thinking about such trivial things now. He slowly and silently got to his feet, holding back a gasp as he put pressure on his right arm. He couldn't get what he wanted like this. He looked for his sword and found it setting against one of the walls. He walked towards the window seeing as his only way out without being detected.

He threw one leg over the sill then the other one. Sitting on the window sill, preparing to jump, he noticed there was a large tree right outside the window, one he could probably land on if he jumped right. He prepared to push off with his only good arm when an arm wrapped itself around his waist pulling him back in.

"What's wrong with you brat? You definitely wouldn't make that jump, especially holding that!" the older boy said looking to the boy's only good arm in which is sword was clutched tightly. "What an idiot!" he said after pulling Shaoran fully in the room and shutting the window.

"Kaijuu! The brat is awake. I suggest you come here before he kills himself!" Shaoran simply glared at the older dark-haired boy. There was something about him that just made Shaoran not like him.

Footsteps came up the steps and the girl Shaoran now assumed to be Sakura and the angel before entered. "He was trying to jump out the window" Touya said in an amused voice. "Have fun" he added as he left the room.

They stared at eachother silently for a minute before Sakura stepped forward. "Sharoan-kun, I'm so glad you're ok. I was so worried when you stopped writing aind---"

"How do you know me?" he cut in sharply.

"Wait...huh? What do you mean? You're my…" she turned a slight tinge of pink unable to finish.

"I've never seen you before today, and you keep talking to me like you know me. Don't you know it's rude to call people you don't know by their given names?" he gave her an irritated look. Sakura's face took on a mixture of hurt and shock as she stared back at him.

"Hey brat! Don't joke like that. You'll make Sakura sad!" the small yellow stuffed animal that had gone unnoticed by Shaoran now spoke up from Sakura's shoulder.

Shaoran raised an eyebrow and turned his attention back to Sakura. "You have the clow cards now. Then that must mean you're Yue " he looked to the angel," and the stuffed animal is Keroberos? No, Keroberos is supposed to be the strong guardian beast of the seal, not a stuffed animal"

"Why you!" Kero started but was interrupted by Sakura.

"So you really don't remember me?" Sakura said looking like she was about to cry.

"No" he said simply as he tears started to fall. His face fell. "Wait, wait don't cry" he said trying to stop her. He couldn't take crying girls. "Crying won't help anything"

She nodded a small sad smile creeping up on her face. "You used to tell me that all the time. Maybe you can't remember but you're still the same Shaoran-kun" she wiped her tears away, and then looked back towards him. "But if you didn't return to come see everyone, what made you come?"

Shoaran's look hardened at this. "I needed to find the cards. Last thing I heard about them was that they were located in this area, but it seems I've been beaten to them."

"Shaoran-kun, YOU helped me capture the clow cards. You helped me change them into Sakura cards…if you weren't there…everyone would still be…" she trailed off looking at him in disbelief.

"I couldn't have been the one to help you. I've been in Hong Kong up until now."

"But..you weren't. I know! Surely you can ask your family. I'm sure they'll remember you coming here. There's no way they could forget. You may not believe me, but they can tell you!"

"I can't!' Shaoran snapped. "Now just give me the cards I need!"

"But Shaoran!" she said grabbing his injured shoulder lightly, receiving a small hiss from the contact from the boy.

Sakura looked worriedly to Yue. "You said you could fix that right?"

Yue strode over too quickly for Shaoran to respond. He firmly placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. "This'll hurt a bit" he said right before he quickly pushed the boys arm back into his socket.

Shaoran yet out a pained and shocked yell and would have fallen if Yue had not been supporting him.

He regained his balance and glared up at Yue, though he couldn't keep the glare on his face for long. This was the angel that had caught him and saved him.

"You can move it now can't you?" Yue asked, though not sounding concerned.

Shaoran tested the movement of his arm. The pain has mostly receded, and he found he could move his arm freely again. He nodded, then looked to Sakura.

"Are you going to give them to me or not?"

"Before I answer" she started hesitantly "What do you need them for?"

Shaoran considered her for a moment. "I want them to save something important to me. I'll stop at nothing to get it back, and so…I need the cards."

She waited for him to elaborate, however it was never to come. After a brief moment of silence she nodded.

"Alright"

"R-really?" Shaoran asked, for a moment the contempt that had laced his voice since he woke up had disappeared.

"Well, I won't give you them, but I'll let you borrow the ones you need."

Shaoran's grip on his sword relaxed. A small flash of relief showed across his face. Sakura pulled the cards out of her pocket and held them out to him. He shuffled through and grabbed the ones he wanted and handed the rest back to her.

"Even though I'm glad…you shouldn't give your cards away to random people, you never know what they'll do with them"

He noticed the sadness that appeared on her face. "I wouldn't for anyone else…but since its you, Shaoran-kun…I know you wouldn't do anything bad with them. I trust you"

"You're really convinced you know me, aren't you?"

Sakura nodded and looked at the floor. "I do. That's how I know all about you. You grew up in Hong King with your 4 sisters. When you turned ten you came here because you were the one with the most magic in your family. You came to collect the cards, and when they were all caught, you helped me change the cards and you told me…you really don't remember?" Shaoran shook his head. "Well even if you don't, I still want to help you, so if there's anything I can do, please let me help."

He shook his head. "These'll be enough." He moved to leave.

"Can I walk you home?" Sakura asked looking out the window to see how late it was. In her mind Shaoran was still in danger.

"I'll be fine alone"

Shaoran walked down the street towards his home staring at the cards he easily acquired. He heard footsteps behind him and spun around ready for a fight, coming face to face with a tall silver haired boy.

"Li-kun, you shouldn't walk home by yourself this late at night" Yukito said happily stopping beside Shaoran.

Shaoran felt his face turn red as he looked at the older boy, and his heart started beating faster than usual.

"Li-kun? Oh! Right! I'm Yukito Tsukishiro. Yue let me know you're having a had time remembering us all, Sorry I guess I forgot."

Shaoran simply nodded not daring to open his mouth.

"Would you like to walk home together?" Shaoran nodded, his face turning a deeper crimson as they started walking together.

Yukito walked by his side seemingly oblivious to the others current state.

"is it upsetting?" Yukito asked breaking the continued silence.

"Um..what?" Shoaran asked having some time to collect his voice.

"Not being able to remember. You spent almost 2 years here. All the friends you made...Sakura too. Does it make you sad that you can't remember?"

Shaoran shook his head. "Not really. It feels as if I were never here, so it doesn't really matter to me. I still think you're all mistaken about me being here."

"We're not" Yukito said suddenly. "You really don't remember do you? Well Sakura will help you remember, I'm sure of it"

Shaoran stopped walking; now being outside of his house. "Why does she care?" he asked the older boy.

"Because to Sakura, there's no person more important than you" Yukito smiled making Shaoran's ear go red.

"Oh, and Yue has a message for you. Umm… he says not to be confused about the attraction of magic between the blood of Clow and his creation's magic." Yukito said as if he were reading it from a book. After he said it, he looked confused. "Do you know what that means?"

"You're him aren't you? Yue's temporary form."

"Yes, I guess I did forget to mention that" Yukito said still looking confused.

"Then I think I get it" he said looking at the ground. Shaoran went into his house after a quick goodbye.

"What was that about?" Yukito thought to Yue.

"Don't worry about it. You're too oblivious to notice it anyway" A cold, but slightly amused voice answered from the back of his mind.


End file.
